Todd Rundgren

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About Todd Rundgren

A Wizard, A True Star. The title of Todd Rundgren’s 1973 solo album aptly sums up the contributions of this multi-faceted artist to state-of-the-art music. As a songwriter, video pioneer, producer, recording artist, computer software developer, conceptualist, and interactive artist (re-designated TR-i), Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both the form and content of popular music.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager, going on to found and front The Nazz, the quintessential `60’s cult group. In 1969, he left the band to pursue a solo career, recording his debut offering, the legendary Runt. But it was 1972’s seminal Something/Anything?, on which he played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts, and acted as his own producer, that catapulted Todd into the superstar limelight, prompting the press to unanimously dub him ‘Rock’s New Wunderkind’. It was followed by such landmark LPs as The Hermit of Mink Hollow and the above mentioned A Wizard, A True Star, as well as such hit singles as I Saw The Light,Hello It’s Me, Can We Still Be Friends, and Bang The Drum.

In 1974, Todd formed Utopia, an entirely new approach to the concept of interactive musicianship, and embarked on an extensive round of touring and recording. Standout Utopia offerings included Oops! Wrong Planet,Adventures in Utopia, and Oblivion. Along the way, Utopia combined technical virtuosity and creative passion to create music that, for millions, defined the term “progressive rock.”

Rundgren’s myriad production projects include albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall And Oates. Rounding out his reputation as rock’s Renaissance Man, Rundgren composed all the music and lyrics for Joe Papp’s 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton’s Up Against It (the screenplay commissioned by The Beatles for what was meant to have been their third motion picture). He also has composed the music for a number of television series, including Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Crime Story.

In 2012 Rundgren performed his iconic 1973 album A Wizard A True Star in concert in its entirety for the first time ever, and last year did the same with a double bill: Todd & Healing. His latest studio album, GLOBAL, was released in April 2015; he continues to tour with Ringo Starr as an erstwhile member of the All-Starr Band, and to perform with symphony orchestras both domestically and internationally. His latest studio album, White Knight, was released on May 12.

In 1998 Todd debuted his new PatroNet technology which for the first time allowed fans of a musical artist to subscribe directly to the artist’s musical output via the Internet. This caps a long history of groundbreaking early multimedia “firsts”, including:

1978: The first interactive television concert, broadcast live over the Warner/QUBE system in Columbus, Ohio (the home audience chose each song.in real time during the concert by voting via QUBE’s 2-way operating system).

1978: The first live nationally broadcast stereo radio concert (by microwave), linking 40 cities around the country.

1979: The opening of Utopia Video Studios, a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility. The first project produced by Todd there is Gustav Holst’s The Planets, commissioned by RCA SelectaVision as the first demonstration software for their new videodisc format.

1980: Creation of the first color graphics tablet, which was licensed to Apple and released as The Utopia Graphics Tablet.

1981: Time Heals, the first music video to utilize state-of-the-art compositing of live action and computer graphics (produced and directed by Todd), becomes the second video to be played on MTV (after Video Killed the Radio Star).

1982: The first live national cablecast of a rock concert (on the USA Network), simulcast in stereo to over 120 radio stations.

1982: The first two commercially released music videos, one of which was nominated for the first-ever Grammy awarded for “Best Short Form Video” in 1983.

1992: The first commercially available music downloads via CompuServe.

1993: The release of “No World Order”, the world’s first interactive record album on CD-i. The first commercially available music downloads via CompuServe.

1994: The release of “The Individualist”, the world’s first full-length Enhanced CD.

What Passengers Think

First time on RLC cruise and it was, by far, one of the best damn times I’ve ever had in my life! Loved every band we saw, especially Sammy, Bad Company and Artimus Pyle! Had already booked for VII before we even went on this one and won’t be giving up my reservation for anything! I do agree with another reviewer that the chair reserving/holding on the deck needs to be addressed and the smoking everywhere on deck 11 was a little much. Thank you NAHA for nailing it for us true rockers!!

Mary, Talk about a Rock-n-Roll fantasy!

This was my 5th RLC out of 6 and will be on the next one in 2019. It is the only way to do a cruise and one of the best ways to have an over the top rock ‘n roll experience. There are three venues with shows going on from 10 am to past 12 midnight – every day! Once you’re done for the night, the convenience of your cabin is just steps away. The RLC lineup speaks for itself. There is so much talent, legends and upcoming rockers, on the ship! The people, your fellow rockers, are all there for the same reason – rock ‘n roll! Don’t be surprised if you run into a few rock stars on the elevator or just hanging out watching a show.

L. Kelly, Best Rock'n Roll Experience

All proceeds from Rock Legends Cruise go to the Native American Heritage Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting hunger and providing basic life necessities to families living on Reservations in South Dakota.